A total of 500,000 tons of pistachios will be produced by the US and Iran for the first time this year, says the president of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
Mohsen Jalalpour added that 170,000 tons of the sum will be grown by Iranians. He believes that it takes careful planning to ensure Iran does not lose its pistachio markets to Americans.
“A bumper harvest is projected for the US this year. In addition, a fraction of their last year’s carryover remains unsold so they are bound to reduce their pistachio prices,” he said.
According to the Financial Times, the two countries, which account for 70-80% of the world’s production, have been vying for the top producer and exporter spot for the past few years.
Iran, which has been a pistachio producer since the 5th century BC, managed to regain the position of top producer last year for the first time since 2008, after record crops in the two years to 2015.
In sharp contrast, the 2015 harvest in California, which accounts for most of the US output, almost halved to a little more than 124,700 tons—the lowest in almost a decade—due to adverse weather.
About 118,000 tons of pistachio worth more than $1.2 billion were exported to over 70 countries in the last Iranian year (March 2015-16), indicating a 34% and 24% decline in volume and value respectively compared with a year before.
